The design, which was the creation of Melancon's brother-in-law, features a shark biting through a wooden baseball bat. Shirts can be purchased online at homeshirts.com. A portion of the proceeds will go to Shark Savors, an organization dedicated to conserving the population of sharks.

"We're going to have a map in the clubhouse and we're going to try to get a person from every state to tweet in their picture wearing the shirt. We'll have a hashtag (#BucsSharkTank) that we can all identify with. It'll be cool to get everybody in each state having a 'Shark Tank' shirt," Melancon told Channel 4 Action News' Andrew Stockey. (Follow Melancon on Twitter under @Mark_Melancon_)

The "Shark Tank" nickname started with Melancon, who was named to the All-Star team this season, his first with the Bucs.

"About two years ago, my wife and I have a bucket list, and one of the things on the bucket list was to go cage diving with great white sharks. We were fortunate enough to do that while I was teaching some clinics down in New Zealand, and on an off day, we took a trip down to the very southern tip of New Zealand and went cage diving with Great White sharks," Melancon said.

So how did the story find its way to Pittsburgh and the Pirates?

"I got on Twitter and tweeted about our bullpen and referred to it as the 'Shark Tank' and it took off," said Melancon.

Fellow All-Star and closer Jason Grilli took it one step further this season when he had an actual 150-gallon tank with two sharks installed in the clubhouse at PNC Park. (Photos: Pirates bullpen gets its own shark tank)

"Teke and Cutter, we like to call them, and then there's some other fish in there. I don't think any other clubhouse has a shark tank in there, for sure," said Melancon.

While the "Shark Tank" nickname has taken off around town, Melancon insists it's not intended to single out one facet of the team.

"It's been a fun unit to have down in the bullpen and a name to identify ourselves with," he said.